A Lilypad in the Wasteland
by Snap-foo
Summary: In order to survive in a wasteland riddled with danger and death, one young woman must strive for her right to live. A new life in the sun, she makes new friends AND enemies along her journey through this dry, desert hell and maybe, just maybe, a little romance. Rated M for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

She had no idea how she had gotten here, staring a monster in the face as he smiled back at her, a charming lie of a smile in place of the horrible ugly truth underneath. She had only come in here to finish a sketch. Only that. How the HELL did she manage to wind up in his clutches?

When Lily first stepped out of the Vault and into Megaton, it was no surprise that people thought little of her. 5'3, long black hair, big blue eyes and nothing to her name but a Vault suit, a 10mm pistol, a pip-boy and a book with a pencil, she didn't seem to have much promise in the giant new world she was thrust out into.

So when she managed to sneak through the Super Duper Mart on her own with nothing but the little 10mm at her side, they were impressed.

When she managed to survive severe rad poisoning, they were even MORE impressed.

When she managed to come back from Minefield with not only a brand new Sniper Rifle but an armful of deactivated landmines? Impressed was an understatement.

As the days rolled by, people saw her walking away from Carterside Supplies with many more caps then she came in with, and left with a much lighter bag then when she walked in. Even after dealing with Moiras little Mole-rat mission, coming back way more bloody than she wanted and way more annoyed then when she left, she still managed to keep her head held high and confident as she strolled up the walkway to the shop.

More times over she proved she was capable of handling herself in the wasteland, only getting better at it as the months ticked by. Getting caps from scavenging wasn't very hard, as Lily proved to be quite resourceful when it came to picking places clean of what little treasures they may have in them, bringing back several usual -and unusual- objects to sell and distribute around the town. Church got medical supplies -at least most of the stuff that she didn't need anyway-, Moira got the strange odds and ends that she picked up and found no use for, Walter got the spare scrap metal she found, Andy got a portion of the food that she found, and Gob got any liquor she didn't want, which was usually all of it.

Not having a place to call her own, and being that she was now more of a regular then just a passer-by in the town now, with some prodding from the local people, the town 'sheriff' finally decided to let her have the empty house on the hill in town and Lily became a more permanent member of the place for the next three months.

She never forgot her mission though. Top priority was to find her father in this god-forsaken land that she had been exiled to, and even IF exploring was a fun thing to do in this brand new world, she had to get it done. The only issue was that she had no idea where on earth to begin.

Sheriff Sims had pointed her to Moriarty, the Saloon owner. Moriarty had decided to spew a lot of tripe at her about not being born in the vault, staying in his Saloon, her father knowing someone called Cross, but nothing that would tell her where to find her father in the least. When she confronted him about that in the middle of his little rant, he seemed pleased with his little distraction and continued to make her life harder by rambling off a number of caps he wanted for his co-operation. When she made it clear to him that she wasn't going to fall for his money scheme, he had suggested...other methods...of payment. It earned him a slap in the face and her a boot out of the bar just as lost about her situation as when she started.

Gob had been the one to rescue her from this disaster. The ghoul had come to her after the bar closed and Moriarty had gone to bed, his only time to really do anything that he wanted to do without being ridiculed or hindered by the horrible man. While sharing a drink in her 'living room' he offered Lily a much better, and much EASIER sort of deal. He would give her the info he had gleaned from Moriarty in exchange for a small favor.

The request had seemed simple enough. Deliver a small letter for him all the way across the wastes in the city. Simple. Ha. It was a far cry from what she was used to scavenging, filled with super mutants, feral ghouls and other creatures she didn't want to tango with, but the pressing need to find her father overridded the fear she felt about having to confront the beasts of the waste. She spent a week preparing for her journey, saving up caps and getting much needed repairs to her equipment, before heading out.

She planned to get Gobs request out of the way first, and set her destination for a place called Underworld in the mall area of DC. To get there, she would need to make use of the metro stations scattered around the now destroyed city. Something she despised greatly. She didn't like the dark, cramped tunnels of the former underground subway stations. She hated the confines of the place, the lack of warmth from the sunshine and the wind that let the air flow freely around her. The echoey tunnels always made her so nervous, and she always tried to get in and out as quick as she could.

She also hated the ghouls.

Lily wasn't a bigot. She didn't mind the people at all. To her, they were all walking pieces of art. She had gasped at the sight of Gob when she first laid eyes on him, and instead of crying out in fear or saying something horrific to him, much to his surprise she began gushing about how BEAUTIFUL he looked. It practically knocked him on his ass as she all but screamed her head off at Moriarty's remark on him being a 'zombie', calling him 'way more handsome than the fat tub of lard HE was!'. And she had meant every word of it too.

Feral ghouls, on the other hand, made her nauseous. Not because of the way they looked, oh no. It was because of what they made her do. She HATED killing people. Killing the raiders in the Super Duper Mart had made her sick. Even with all the horrible rumors, she saw them as people who had a bad end of luck in life, and add to the fact that she had only killed one person in the Vault as she fled for her life and it was easy to see how she only managed to kill two of them before having to sneak her way through the rest.

But these were far different. They had once been people as well, and still held very similar appearances to them as they shambled around the underground tunnels. It made Lily's stomach twist up in knots when she was faced with one of them, let alone an entire hoard of them.

Long ago, however, after faced with a huge one not too long ago when traveling to Minefield, she had learned a way to deal with the unsettling feeling. She decided that it was far better to put them down and out of their misery than to let them wander around aimlessly and hopelessly for the rest of their miserable existence. Not that it made it any easier, it helped ease the pain of the whole ordeal.

As she exited the metro, looking at her pip-boy to find her orientation, she noticed the huge pillar shooting up into sky. As she walked by it slowly, she wondered what the world would look like from the top of it looking down. She looked down at the pip-boy on her wrist to check the time. She had a few hours before dark, she could stop for a small break.

Walking towards what she assumed was the front of the compound around the structure, Lily noticed how many soldiers covered in metal suits, Brotherhood from what she had been told in Megaton, there were walking around. She found a good piece of concrete jutting from the ground and took a seat as another one of the soldiers walked past her, regarding her for only a moment before moving on.

She pulled her pack off of her back and reached inside, pulling the book out of its designated pocket, followed quickly by a pencil that was kept next to it. Lily had always been fascinated by the structures of the old world when she studied history in the Vault. The massive sculptures that proclaimed long ago fought battles, honored fallen heros of the world, told tales that books could never come close to doing justice to, ALL of them seemed so amazing to her. To be able to create something so huge with so little was just something of a magic trick in her opinion, and she had always wanted to see them in person.

It didn't take her long, more around an hour and a half, before she had the outside of the compound and what she could see of the monument down in the book. Snapping it closed after giving it a small squiggle, she returned it and her pencil to their proper place in her bag and slung it over her shoulder, hopping off of the large concrete block she had been sitting on. It had been a nice rest, but the sun was starting to set and she needed to get moving.

She was lucky. One of the metal soldiers was on his way past her on patrol. "Excuse me!" Lily waved a hand to grab his attention as he came closer to her. He had a hand on the butt of his gun as she approached him and she slowed her pace just a bit so not to put him even more on edge then he was. She put on a smile and let it reach her eyes as she came to a stop a little ways away from him, respecting his 'personal space' and giving him maneuvering room in case he would need it. The trick seemed to work as his hand eased away from his gun, though he still seemed wary of her. "What is it, civilian?"

"I'm so sorry to distract you from your route, Mister Soldier," He seemed to puff up with a little pride at the name. "but I'm looking for a place called..." She looked down at her pip-boy, moving through a few windows before coming to her map. "...Under...world?" She looked back up at him, blinking with confusion. "I have to deliver a message to someone there. Could you help me find it?"

The guard was quiet for a moment before lifting an arm and pointing over her shoulder at a large, squat building. "Right there." She looked at the building, wondering what it used to be in its prime, but shrugged and gave the man another smile. "Thank you so much!" She gave him a small wave as she jogged across the empty courtyard towards the building he had indicated.


	2. Chapter 2

Lilys stride slowed as she approached the buildings entrance. Blinking up at the building, down at the pip-boy strapped to her wrist, then back up again, she was convinced the man had told her wrong. The building in front of her was clearly marked as a MUSEUM, the Museum of History to be precise. NOT Underworld.

She sighed softly as she leaned against the small bit of railing in front of the building, poking at the contraption on her wrist. She just couldn't catch a break could she?

"What's up tourist?"

Lily huffed softly, not looking up from her pip-boy as she replied. "Well, this soldier guy over by that compound said that this was Underworld. But it's clearly a museum! I'm just really tired of being lied to out here..."

"It IS underworld, smoothskin."

Smoothskin. NOW Lily looked up, nearly gasping at the woman next to her, who was giving her a very amused look. "OH! Oh goodness I'm so sorry, I was being rude. You said it IS Underworld?"

"Inside. Building may be a museum, but Underworlds inside. Just go through the door, can't miss it. It's the door under the huge skull smack dab in front of you."

"OH! Oh wow I feel really stupid now." Lily grumbled softly, rubbing her face as heat filled her cheeks. The woman next to her only chuckled at her statement.

"It happens, tourist."

"Thanks for your help, Miss..."

"Willow."

"Willow? Wow, heehee that's kinda funny that we're both named after plants."

The woman raised an eyebrow at her in confusion before she continued.

"You're Willow. I'm Lily."

Willow started chuckling, shaking her head and giving her a strong pat on the shoulder as she returned to her patrol. "You are somethin else, tourist."

"You aren't the first one to tell ME that, hahaha!" Lily added her own giggles to the atmosphere as she started up the stairs, giving the other woman a wave goodbye as she pulled the museum doors open and stepped inside. In the back of her mind, Willow wondered why the girl hadn't commented on how ugly or scary she was, but shoved the thought away easily. Must not have been her first ghoul.

She didn't know how long she had been sitting there, staring at the huge animal on the pedestal. Maybe an hour? Hour and a half? She didn't know. All she knew is that it was a challenge to get the damn thing in her book, that's for sure.

Lily had been enthralled by the massive bone creature on the inside of the building, walking around it several times before stopping and plopping down on the dust covered floor and pulling out her book. She had wanted to put Willow in it badly, but thought better of it at the time. Staring at someone you just met for the first time for several hours was a little rude without context. This creature would be a nice replacement.

After sitting on the tile floor for two hours, she finally snapped the book shut and returned it to her pack with its partner, looking at her Pip-Boy. "Hm...I have enough time. Maybe I'll have a look around the place before going inside. Who knows what else I could find around here!"

It turned out to be a little bit of a bad idea. The neighboring offices on either side of Underworlds entrance were filled with ferals of all shapes and sizes, and even though she left them with some very valuable items to trade, she also left with a queasy stomach. Killing the ferals, no matter how merciful it was, was never easy for her.

Entering Underworld, however, proved to be a very pleasant surprise. All around her she saw ghouls of all kinds, milling about and performing their daily, or rather nightly, routines. She imagined that the place was more lively during the day when people were awake, but even so, as it was, she was still happy to be here among the walking works of art.

Lily caught hold of a man in a mechanics outfit, Winthrop she soon learned, and managed to get a basic layout of the whole place with no effort on her part. He seemed more than happy to tell her what was what and who was who in the little city, and was even happy to trade her some scrap metal for some stimpaks.

With her pack a little bit lighter, she headed up the staircase to her right and pushed open the door to Carol's place. Upon entering, she was immediately noticed by the woman behind the counter, who greeted her with a tired smile. She wore a blue sundress despite her appearance, what remained of her hair trailing down on either side of her head. She would have been even more beautiful with skin in the wanderers opinion, but as she was, she was still just as stunning. "Oh hello. Welcome to Carols place. Come on in, sweetie, I was just cleaning things up for the night."

Lily gave the tired woman an equally tired smile as she walked up to the counter. "Am I right in assuming that you're Carol?" After the woman nodded her head, now giving her a wary look, the wastelander pulled her pack from her shoulder with a brighter smile. "Oh good, then I can consider my job done. Just one second...Here it is." She pulled the thin paper out of her bag, watching relief flood the womans face and change to curiosity. "Gob from Megaton wanted me to give you this."

Carols eyes lit up as she eagerly took the letter from the girls hand. "You know Gob?! Oh I'm so glad to hear he has a friend as pretty as you around! That boy can be so timid around girls you know? How is he doing, is he alright?"

Fighting the heat rising in her cheeks, Lily pushed some loose bangs behind her ear, smile never falling. "I'm sure he says more about it in his letter, but yeah he's doing really well. Works at a bar and everything." She neglected to tell her about Moriarty and how miserable Gob truly was, but watching the womans face brighten as her eyes danced over the letter, it seemed too cruel to tell her the painful truth.

Carols gaze returned to hers, tears pricking her eyes, but her smile was genuine. "Thank you so much for coming all this way for this. It means so much to me. Gob is like a son to Greta and I, and knowing he's doing okay is such a relief."

"It's no problem. I was headed this way anyway so it wasn't out of my way."

"At least let me pay you for the trip. It's the least that I can do for you."

Opening her mouth to protest, Lil paused in thought before giving her a sheepish smile. "A-actually...if you had a room to rent...that would be great."

Carol smiled and nodded in understanding. "We do have a room open for you to use, Miss..?"

"Oh gosh that was way rude of me sorry. I'm Lily." She stuck her hand out to the ghoul, much to the other woman's surprise as she smiled at her and shook it happily.

"Lily. Right this way."

Lily got up early the next morning with her book and pencil. She put both Carol and Greta into her book during breakfast before having a brief conversation with the Ghoullettes. Carol happily told her the location to GNR. "Now remember. There are super-mutants and Mirelurks and Raiders a-"

"Yes mama, I got it." She said without thinking, freezing in place, her eyes darting up sheepishly at the woman behind the counter. It had come out on it's own, what with Carol sounding just like a mother hen all over her, and Lily couldn't help the slip.

But she was grinning from ear to ear, or at least she would be if she HAD ears remaining, and chuckled, the other female ghoul grumbling softly about 'another damn stray' as Carol waved the comment away. "Just trying to make sure you make it back in one piece, is all sweetheart. Don't want you to become raider chow out there."

Lily felt the heat rush up in her cheeks as she finished stuffing the food she bought into her pack, fighting the rising urge to dash out of the place with her head in her bag. "I know. Thank you for your concern, Carol. I think I'll be alright though, it isn't too far from what the map says. Just about a day? Not even? I'll be back before you know it, no wor- Oh darn..."

"What's wrong?"

"I forgot I needed some alcohol...Shoot. And I was ready to head out too. I swear I would forget my own head if it wasn't on my damn shoulders every day."

Carol chuckled at the comment while Greta rolled her eyes and pointed across the way. "If its booze you want, go talk to Ahzrukhal. He runs the bar over there. Just be careful. He's a damn snake that will try to milk every cap out of you that he can manage to grab. Greedy bastard.."

Lily nodded slowly as she heaved her pack up onto her shoulders, taking Gretas advice to heart. "I'll watch him. But I could really use a few bottles. It would be better to go prepared for Mirelurks and not find any then to actually find some and not be prepared."

Carol tilted her head as the young woman began to walk out. "How does Alcohol work on Mirelurks?"

Lily simply cast a smile over her shoulder and waved at them with one word. "Molotovs!"

As Lily stepped into the Ninth Circle, the atmosphere seemed to take a completely different turn. It no longer felt warm and friendly but dark and cold. Ghouls hunched over their drinks began to murmur to one another as she squared her shoulders and walked up to the bar. She was aware of the eyes on her the minute she stepped into the room, but she ignored the uncomfortable feeling, keeping her focus.

The Ghoul behind it in a filthy pre-war suit gave her a...interesting...smile. He smelled caps, and he knew how to get them. Greta wasn't lying about him being a greedy bastard, and Lily could tell just by the glint in his eye as he addressed her. "Well well. It's been awhile since I had a smoothskin as lovely as you walk into my bar." Instead of bringing warmth, the compliment brought her an icy feeling, and she fought the shiver that ran down her spine to force a smile on her face. "What can I get for you, my dear?"

"I need three full bottles of high grade whiskey. The highest if you have enough of it." Lily gave a small tilt to her head and a little more sugar to her smile as she added "Please?"

She knew how to barter, despite her appearance and 'obvious naiveity' that most shop owners took for granted. She knew that with just the right amount of poking and prodding, the right amount of sugar or spice, she could get what she wanted in exchange for little.

As the shock of the request wore off, Ahzrukhal replaced the look of surprise with a smirk and continued to wipe the glass in his hand instead of fulfilling her order. "Well now, that's quite a request coming from such a fine lady like yourself. May I interest you in a finer liquor more suited for such a visage of beauty?"

"Oh I think you misunderstood. I'm not gonna drink it all, silly!"

The cleaning stopped as he fixed her with a look of curiosity, his eyes briefly flashing from her to the room behind her before returning. "No? Then may I ask what you plan on doing with it?"

"Other things." She said as sweetly as could be, waving a hand to dismiss the question. "Why do you care, though? As long as I have caps and you have the booze, I don't think there should be a problem, right?"

He watched her with those sickly green eyes for quite a while, and Lily had to fight the urge to shift under his gaze. Then he smiled and nodded, setting the glass and rag down with a chuckle. "I can't argue with THAT logic.

He watched silently as Ahzrukhal pulled three bottles of booze from the shelf and set them in front of her, rambling about how the 'finest women deserve the finest liquor' and how he was more than HAPPY to serve such a lady. She didn't take the compliment as she should have, no heat reaching her cheeks as she smiled at him and asked for the price. He rattled off a number and she paused before messing with her pip-boy.

Whatever she said next made the greasy ghoul behind the counter twitch with anger, his smile wavering as she returned her gaze to him. He pulled the smile back to his lips and rattled off some kind of excuse to her. She was quiet and thoughtful as she looked back at her pip-boy.

'Probably caught him in a lie.'

She shook her head and shrugged, reaching down and grabbing the strap of the bag at her feet. His fingers twitched in anticipation before Ahzrukhal stopped her. As the smoothskin straightened, she pulled a piece of raven hair back behind her ear, listening calmly. She was young. VERY young. Maybe 13, 14 years old he supposed. How the hell was she managing to stay alive all this time? How long had she been out of her little vault? She wasn't going to last another week out in the wastes with how innocent she acted.

Her smile shattered his thoughts as she nodded her head and reached into her bag. Again, his fingers twitched, waiting. But she pulled a bag out instead of a weapon, pulling out the amount of caps that Ahzrukhal had requested and counting them out for him before giving him another god damned smile. For some reason, it irked him that she was so cheerful. Everyone else in this god forsaken place was fucking miserable, yet she stood out with a slight twitch of her mouth that made the room seem so much brighter than before. He didn't know if he should be grateful for it or not. He decided not.

Hauling her bag onto her shoulder and picking the three bottles up, she walked over to a table across from him and sat them down, sitting her bag in the chair next to her.

As he watched her closely, she pulled out a knife (which made his fingers twitch in anticipation once more) and an old rag. She cut three long strips from it before storing the knife once more in her bag and turning to the bottles. Popping the cap off of each one, she stuffed the cloth into the opening of each one, leaving just a small bit hanging out of the top of them as she caped them once more and twisted the tops, making sure they were secure before depositing them into her bag. She pulled it over her shoulder, wiping her hands on her pants and walked out the door without another word, her smile still plastered to her face as she left.

He just watched a small teenager make three molotov cocktails without needing a single manual.

Maybe she was more capable than he thought.

"Charon, come here."

Charon snapped his head towards the bar, pushing off the wall he leaned against from one day to the next and walked over to the bar to his employer, feeling his muscles sigh at the new movements put into them.

"I have job for you to do."


	3. Chapter 3

So I was told that I was taking things a bit too fast. I'll try and slow the story down a little more from this point forward. Reviews are welcome! Always open for suggestions!

* * *

Lily tapped her pip-boy once more to refresh the screen, just to make sure she had the right location. Yep. GNR plaza. Just like Carol had said. She looked back up at the area and raised an eyebrow. It certainly didn't LOOK inviting. Giant green bodies lay sprawled about the area in different locations, different kinds of damage dealt to each one of the hulking green beings from what she could see. Several steel soldiers, Brotherhood she had to remind herself, stood outside the entrance to the building with weapons drawn and ready for use the minute the need arose.

Stepping around one of the fallen giants, she ran smack into one of the tin men, sending her falling onto her rump with a soft yelp of surprise. She looked up to see him pointing a strange weapon in her face.

"Identify yourself, civilian."

"U-um...Lily?"

"What are you doing here, Lily. This place is off limits to civilians. It's dangerous." He nodded to the large body she had just avoided to emphasize his point, lowering his weapon enough to make her feel a bit more comfortable. Apparently it was a type of rifle, but not one she had ever seen before. It looked similar to the one that Willow carried on her back, but with some slight modifications.

"Uh...yeah I can see that, but I'm not here to start trouble or anything. I just need to find a guy called Three Dog." She replied as she stood, brushing debris and dirt off of her backside as she spoke to the soldier.

"And what do you need to see the DJ about?" He asked, his rifle coming up just a bit more. She raised her hands up in a peaceful manner, giving him a disarming smile. The last thing she needed was the metal men in the area filling her with holes of any kind because she said something stupid.

"To ask him about something he can help me with." She looked down a bit with worry, her hands dropping in front of her and coming together to wring her fingers together as she spoke. "...at least...I HOPE he can. I was TOLD he could...He knows a ton about what goes on out here...So I was hoping..."

"Alright alright, enough with the sob story.." She could practically see the soldiers eyes roll under his helmet as he turned and walked further into the plaza, over to a blonde haired woman in power armor. "Lyons, this kid says she needs to talk to Three Dog."

Lily stood still with her hands in front of her, rocking back and forth on her feet to look as innocent as she could, bright blue eyes gazing up at the woman as she appraised her for a long time. She had to look as innocent and timid as she could, childish if she could pull it off. Most people thought she was around 12 years old, 13 at the oldest, and it seemed to assist her in tricking others. The woman finally met her eyes, a hardened gaze boaring through her own. Seeming satisfied with what she saw there, she nodded to the soldier and turned away, her eyes going back to scanning the area around them. The metal sentry she had run into turned to her and motioned for her to follow him as he headed up the stairs.

"Stop right there." The man put his hand up as soon as she opened her mouth. "I know what you're thinking. You're wondering who the heck this guy is and why should you care."

"U-uh..." Lily blinked back at the DJ as he spread his arms apart.

"Well prepare to be enlightened!"

Lily had entered the building after the brotherhood guard had informed the ones inside that she was allowed. Getting directions to the studio, she was forced to leave all her weapons downstairs with the soldiers before she was allowed to go up and speak to the DJ. When she had complied, she had bounded up the stairs with a spring in her step, eager to see the man named 'Three Dog'.

She had no idea what she had expected, but this certainly wasn't it.

"I am Three Dog jockey of discs and teller of truths. Lord and master over the finest radio station to grace the Wastes, Galaxy News Radio." Putting his hands on his hips, Three Dog leaned forward a bit with a big grin on his face. "And you, well... I know who you are."

"You...do?" Lily swallowed. She didn't know if that was a GOOD thing or a BAD thing, all things considered. After what she had been through these past few months, she had learned to expect the worst of any situation, but to hope for the best out of them as well.

The DJ nodded as he folded his arms over his chest. " Heard about you leavin' that Vault, travelin' the unknown. Just like dear old Dad, hmm? Met him already..."

"You met my father?! Is he here?!" Joy surged through the young womans body as she bolted up the rest of the steps and almost pounced on the man, her eyes beginning to glisten with tears. "Please tell me, I've been looking all over the place for him!"

"Hey, hey. One thing at a time." The man gently put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her back out of his personal space, a sympathetic look on his face. "Nah, your old man ain't here. Not anymore."

She felt the hope inside of her crack and splinter just a little bit.

"He heard ole Three Dog on the radio, figured I knew what was what out here in the Capital Wasteland. And he was right. So I filled the old man in. But he split. Looks like I've got my way of contributing to the Good Fight... and he's got his own."

"He left..." Lily let her shoulders drop as the tears of hope became tears of sorrow, feeling them trickle down her face as her mind took the information in. "Why...Why does he always...ALWAYS..." Her shoulders shook slightly, a sob threatening to tear its way out of her in frustration. She shook her head and swallowed the sob back down.

_'Dad isn't HERE but he's ALIVE. At least he was when he left here. He HAS to still be alive and I have to find him...But where do I go NOW...'_

She gave the man a hard, firm look that made him almost take a step back. For such a small woman to have such a fierce determination in her eyes, he really didn't expect it from someone like her in the slightest. She seemed to have gone from despair to devoted in less then a second. Women like that were DANGEROUS, in his experience. "Please. If you know ANYTHING that can help me find him, ANYTHING, PLEASE tell me! I HAVE to find him!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa there sweetheart. Information like that isn't free, ya know." The DJ gave her a smirk as he continued. "Of course, yours truly knows where he was headed, but if you wanna find out more you gotta contribute to the Good Fight."

Of course it wouldn't be that easy. It was NEVER that easy. People always had to be such greedy bastards in this word that they HAD to have something in order to give something. No charity in this world, so it seemed. "What do you want..." Lily sighed as she looked around the office slowly. "You look like you have everything you need right here."

Three Dog folded his arms and nodded at her comment. "True, I have the name and the talent, but what I don't have are people to run out and do the stuff I need."

"What about the brotherhood outside? Aren't they more than capable in helping you?"

THAT got a snort of displeasure out of the host as he glared over his shoulder towards the courtyard. "Sure, the Brotherhood watches over the place, yeah. But that's all they can spare. Don't have anyone to run around doing 'petty chores' and all that shit." He shook his head and returned his gaze to her. "No, Galaxy News needs a doer. Someone who can go out there into that wild, wooly world and get shit done. So, you game?"

Lily stood silent for a good while, wringing her fingers back and forth as she rolled the thought over in her mind. It was one errand for another wasn't it? Moriarty had wanted her to do something too and she had refused it and now Three Dog wanted something as well. But in this new world she was spat out into, it was a 'you scratch my back and I scratch yours' way of living, and she had to play the game too if she wanted to get any closer to finding her father, or survive period for that matter.

She thought on it for a good while, to the point to where Three Dog had become uncomfortable in the silence, tapping a tune out on his arm as he waited for her to answer. Finally she lifted her head and stared him straight in the eye, nodding. "Alright, Three Dog. What do you need me to do?"

* * *

_Galaxy News Radio is my baby. I love it, I feed it, I keep it changed. But there's one problem, no one outside D.C. can hear her cry._

_You see, some brainless Super Mutant thought it would be funny to shoot at the shiny round thing on the Washington Monument. That shiny thing was our broadcast relay. Now it's swiss cheese. Without it, our broadcast range is quite limited._

_So, after it gets blown up I look into how to replace the sucker. Guess what? The factory that made the relay dishes is long gone. Leveled. As in, we'll never find that part again._

_But thankfully, one of the Brotherhood guys that passed through here mentioned seeing a dish in one of D.C.'s old museums. It's the dish off of the old Virgo II Lunar Lander in the Museum of Technology._

_I want you to get it and bring it to the Washington Monument to replace the bad one. That's it._

It had seemed easy enough when she thought about it. The Technology Museum was right across from Underworld if her map was anything to go by, so she had stopped in and resupplied with Carol before heading out. She had stopped outside of the GNR building to ask about the museum, of any threats she could encounter, and learned that the giant green hulking things that lay dead around the building were, in fact, Super Mutants. Now armed with this knowledge, and thus a new nightmare to add to her arsenal, she traveled down the road some ways to the Museum of Technology building.

She had expected some trouble.

She expected the place to be crawling with Super Mutants.

She CERTAINLY didn't expect to be slammed in the stomach by a damn super sledge as soon as she opened the door.

Lily hit the ground hard and skid across the ground on her arm before coming to a halt. Her stomach sent fire pulsing through her body with every little move she made as she struggled to get up, a whimper pulling from her lips as thunderous footsteps started towards her at a rapid pace. She looked up to see the Super Mutant raising up the makeshift hammer as it got closer to her, murderous intent glinting in its beady eyes.

"KILL YOU!"

_'Not today..'_ She lifted her rifle and fired, spearing the mutant in the shoulder. He howled in pain as he dropped the hammer to clutch at the wound, and the wasteland woman used that opportunity to reload and fire once more. The second bullet to the skull ended his screaming as he collapsed to the ground, dead at her feet.

Lily panted as she heaved herself to her feet, pain radiating through her body as she struggled to walk, each breath feeling like utter agony. The hammer had hit her square in the stomach, not her chest, meaning the armor she wore had done little to NOTHING to blunt the attack. She could practically hear her bones grinding against one another as she walked, threatening her vital organs with every inch. She lifted her gaze to the building not too far from her shaky body, her vision starting to blur out. She had to get to Underworld, to safety.

She staggered down the road, feeling the hot iron taste well up in her throat as she forced herself to move further, get closer. The pain was starting to burn through her, tears welling up into her eyes as she choked it down like a burnt piece of food and kept going. She had just made it into sight of the museum, just saw willow turn the corner on her patrol, when the guttural roar ripped the air. Lily forced herself around, pulling the now far too heavy rifle up to her shoulder as she faced her attacker, gasping at the huge creature that reared up on his hind legs and sniffed at the air, picking her scent up easily from a small blood puddle she had spat to the cement ground.

The Deathclaw bellowed furiously as it barreled towards her, long claws flicking out from its outstretched hands as he gained on her. She took a shaky breath as she sighted the creature, who was growing massive in record breaking speed through the scope. Holding her breath and praying to any deity that may be alive, she pulled the trigger and yelped in pain as the rifles kick jarred her body, nearly sending her to the ground. But the shot was true, as the massive lizards head jerked back, its body twisting as he fell to the ground a mere few feet in front of her.

Everything was a blur around her as she collapsed to her knees, tears and blood mixing together on the concrete below her as she began to cough once more, feeling her warm fluid dribble down her chin.

Distantly, she heard someone call to her from behind, and barely managed to turn her body enough to look over her shoulder.

Willow was racing over to her, gun in hand, skidding to a stop beside her and kneeling next to her. "Jesus Christ, smoothskin what the HELL were you doing?! That thing nearly ran you over! Oh sweet lord, you're covered in blood...did that thing gut you?!"

"Nice to see you too, Willow.." Lily croaked, tilting to the side a bit, only to be caught by the Ghoul guard. "I'm a little tired..."

"Christ, Lily, what the hell hap-"

The ghoul never finished her sentence.

The world seemed to erupt with an ear shattering roar as the Deathclaw surged to its feet, face bloody as its maw opened wide, lunging at them both with raw utter rage.

It was met with a loud BARK and buckshot.

The creature let out a weak cry of pain as it fell to the ground, blood oozing from several holes that littered its face.

Willow let out a sigh of relief as a massive shadow slid over them, but Lily didn't hear the words the woman said next, only a muffled mumble of sound, followed by a very muted version of her name as the pain became far too much for her to bear. She let the darkness at the edge of her vision swim around her and engulf her completely, falling happily into blissful unconsciousness.


	4. Chapter 4

"Lily? C'mon smoothskin, wake up!"

Charon stepped around the two women, uninterested in them as he crouched next to the Deathclaws head, tilting it to the side with the nose of his gun. It didn't react, it's head flopping lifelessly to the side. Blood oozed from the several bullet holes in its skull, created by the point blank buckshot from the muzzle of his shotgun. He crouched down next to it, reaching forward and running a thumb over the left eye. Or what remained of it anyway.

Something had gone clean through the socket at an angle, exiting the head through the left side of the face, creating a nasty looking wound that oozed blood. It had done the majority of the damage, and how the creature managed to pull its ass of the ground to try and finish what it started even Charon didn't know. All in all, a pretty damn good shot.

"CHARON!"

The ghoul jerked his head towards the two women, rising from his crouch with a slight scowl on his face. "What."

"You need to carry her."

"Why me."

The female ghoul rolled her eyes and almost growled at him. Almost. "Because I'm gonna gather her stuff up and carry it in behind you. Unless you want to take both your crap AND hers all at once. Just stop complaining and carry the damn tourist before she bleeds to death. The sooner we get to the Chop Shop, the sooner I can get back to my patrol."

He cast a glance at the doors to the museum in hesitation.

"Do you REALLY wanna get back to that bastard that badly?"

After only a brief moment more of hesitation, he snorted softly and hesitantly put his shotgun down on the ground. He didn't like being unarmed. Sure, he was just as good with hand to hand combat as he was with a firearm, but his shotgun gave him a bit more distance between him and whatever it was trying to tear his face apart and in his experience, that distance was what defined life or death for you in an instant.

"Here."

No sooner had he stood up did Willow shove the now limp young girl in his arms. He almost froze at the sudden action. He had never really found himself in this kind of position before. Yeah, he was force to carry a few past employers into their homes after a drunken brawl or a raider scuffle, but they were all hardened to the wastes, weathered miserable sacks of crap that could handle some rough handling. But the young lady in his arms was like a newborn babe compared to them and he was sure that if he took one wrong step, moved in some wrong way, it could very well shatter her entire body and make the whole situation worse.

In his arms, she looked so much smaller than she did in the bar not even a day ago, but now he could see her age a little better. Her height clearly hid the maturity in her features, but nobody could deny the curves that she sported, the hips that sloped gently up into a thin, but muscular, figure and the small but ample bosom that was now quivering with every unsteady breath she took. Charon thought that every so often he could see a small glint of something reflective in the center of her chest, but ignored it. Distance most certainly didn't do her any justice, but he supposed she used that to her advantage when she got the chance to.

A shuddering cough brought him back into reality, his gaze darting to Willow, who was bending down and pulling his shotgun into her hands, her plasma rifle now stored on her back with the young woman's pack. She gave him a nod and bolted towards the doors of the museum, with him close behind her, trying his hardest not to jostle the small life he now carried so tenderly in his suddenly too big hands.

Willow yanked the door open for him and he slid inside with fluid motion, his stride not stopping as he walked through the lobby. He subconsciously pulled the small smoothskin closer to his chest, feeling her body begin to tremble and shiver as she fought to take deeper breaths. Willow darted past him almost silently and yanked the door to Underworld open swiftly, stepping out of his way as he repeated the same fluid motion he had performed upon entering the building in the first place.

Gasps of shock and surprise, murmurs of horror and disbelief, he ignored every last one of them, a sense of urgency now rising inside of him.

Why?

He didn't know this woman. She didn't even pause to glance in his direction when she had come into the Ninth Circle on her previous visit, so he doubted that she was aware of his existence at all. She was just another smoothskin.

So why did he feel a sense of...panic? WAS it panic? It couldn't be. Nobody causes him to panic. He doubted he was even capable of the action anymore. The surge of fear and the drive to get to the Chop Shop had to be normal. It was just something a normal person would do to help someone else in need. That they didn't know. At all. Yep.

Just helping a random stranger he was sure didn't have ANY idea who he was.

_'If it keeps me out of that damn bar a little longer, it's a good enough reason.'_

Willow shouldered the door open enough for him to step inside of the clinic, stooping just slightly so not to bash his head on the doorframe and give Barrows TWO patients. Graves, the nurse in the joint, jumped when his huge form passed through the doorway, but it took her all of two seconds to analyze the situation and react. Had she been a soldier, Charon would have been proud of that timing.

Setting the tray of freshly cleaned medical tools down, the ghoulified woman took off through a door in the back of the facility, closing the door behind her as she left. The doctors two experimental Glowing ones watched her curiously as she entered the area, but made no moves to go to her, heads simply tilting with curiosity.

Charon walked stiffly over to one of the beds, laying the young woman down on it as gently as he could. The heavy thud of her pack hitting the ground next to the bed made him tear his gaze away from her too still form and hold out his hand, waiting for the female ghoul to comply.

Willow looked confused at first, but then rolled her eyes and slid the shotgun off her back, dropping it into his waiting hand. He felt a bit better with it back in his possession, but when she didn't let go of it his gaze moved from it to her face. She had been waiting on him to give her his attention, and smiled at him softly when she got it.

"Thanks, ya big asshole. I'll be sure to let her know who her knight in shining armor was when she wakes up.."

She let go of the gun and gave his arm a soft pat as she sat on the bed next to the unconscious smoothskin. "Ya know, you're a good guy when you want to be. Not the tall, dark, and scary monster people say you are."

He didn't let the words settle into him, shouldering his weapon and shifting his pack on his back with a snort of amusement. Him? Good? Thats a fucking laugh. She wouldn't be saying that if she knew the horrible things he had been forced to do under Ahzrukhal's...'employment'. It would make even the hardest of wastelanders shiver a good bit.

He walked out of the Chop Shop without another word, passing several of the shocked dwellers of the Underworld without so much as a glance in anyones direction.

As he started up the stairs, in the back of his mind, he secretly hoped that the young woman would be alright.

Hot then cold. Hot then cold. The cycle of temperature fluctuations washed over her for what felt like an endless time as Lily floated through the darkness of her mind. She didn't mind it, not really. It wasn't unbearable to be honest. The shifts were just so sudden that it would knock the breath out of her if she had been awake when it happened.

It went on for far too long for her to wake up, and it took a great deal of swimming through the darkness behind her eyes till she was able to surface from the depths of her mind. And when she did, she wished she could dive back under again. Pain raced through her body, pooling around her stomach and lower chest as she struggled not to vomit.

"Easy does it smoothskin, you're gonna be here awhile." The gruff voice came through the watery darkness to her ears and she groaned, tilting her head to the right just a bit. A Ghoul stood with a clipboard in hand, writing something on the surface of it.

"...who..."

"Doctor Barrows, owner of the Chop Shop here in underworld. Be thankful I'm not one of those racist bigots that don't treat smoothskins, or you would be dead right now."

Lily groaned softly and flopped her head back into her pillow with a soft sigh. At least she was safe. "What happened...?"

"From what Willow tells me, you went head on head with a Deathclaw and barely made it out alive. My only question is, how the hell did you bust 8 ribs and scratch a lung without having any external injuries?"

"Super sledge..."

"...Yeah that would do it alright." He sighed and shook his head, walking to his terminal at the desk. "You'd think that you humans would learn to leave the damn Mutants alone but noooo. Gotta poke the big baby don't ya? Well congrats kiddo, you poked your way into a bed for two weeks while they heal completely. Hope you like sleeping."

Two WEEKS?! She couldn't stay in a bed for two weeks! She had to get up and find her father, before his trail went cold. She couldn't stay in a stupid bed for half a month. She winced and turned her head to the doctor. "Do you...have...irradiated water?"

"Smoothskin, Purified water would be far better for you to digest right now."

Lily shook her head weakly. She needed the irradiated stuff. "I know...what i'm talking about...please?"

The doctor raised an eyebrow at her before shrugging and walking out of her sight, returning a few moments later with a bottle of irradiated water. She could feel the tingle through the plastic that contained it as he handed it to her and she gave him a weak smile of thanks.

She managed to choke down half the bottle before having to set it aside, the radiation flooding through her body and warming her to the core. God she always felt so weird using rad water. It always made her look so strange to other people, but she would never admit to it bothering her. Not to a stranger anyway. She rolled over onto her side and tried to get a little more comfortable under the covers with a shuddering sigh.

Carol had come in to check up on her a couple of days later. She felt heavy, her eyes weighed down by exhaustion, and she could barely speak to the woman, let alone hold a full blown conversation. She was far more coherent on the fourth day in the clinic, and she was able to finally get some soup into her stomach and keep it down. Carol was happy to see her sitting up and talking, and it made Lily feel much better seeing the woman smile at her. She helped the young wastelander steady her hands enough to spoon the soup into her lips, and oh did it taste so good to her at that moment. The best she had ever had.

Once Gobs mother-figure left her to her rest, Lily reached over and pulled her bag to herself, being careful not to jar her injury too badly. Pulling the sack up onto the bed took way more effort than she ever remembered it being, and she felt far more winded than usual when she finally managed to shoulder it up onto her bedside. She pulled her shirt off her head, pausing only long enough to slap her hand to her chest, feeling the familiar texture of metal under her fingertips and sighing. Good. It was still there. Her pants and underwear went next, leaving her completely naked under the covers. Hopefully nobody came in and got any ideas. She trusted Barrows and Graves, but the strangers that she had only said hello to in passing? Not so much. She pulled a fresh pair of panties out and slid them on, pulling a sleeping tank top on as well before stuffing the dirty clothes into her bag and giving it a slight shove off of the bed. She plopped back down onto the pillow, already feeling the energy she had left fading away. She curled up and let her eyes close, feeling way better than she had before now that she was in some fresh, comfortable clothes, slipping back into sleep easily.

Nurse graves, the woman that worked in the clinic with Barrows, told her Monday of that following week that if she were to take it easy and stay in Underworld where it was safe, she could get up and walk around to get her muscles working again. Lily felt relieved. If she had to spend another week in bed doing NOTHING, she would lose her shit completely.

Her first stop was Carols, and she took her time walking slowly up the stairs to get there. The ghoul woman was overjoyed to see her on her feet, even IF she started fussing over her the minute she walked into the small 'inn'. Greta seemed to be getting more and more jealous of the attention she was getting, but she relaxed when Lily finally told Carol to stop fussing and tend to her other customers first.

People filtered in and out of the place as the wasteland woman watched, getting food or something to drink, or simply gossip with the ghoulettes about things happening in Underworld. After a few hours, Lily was about to get up and go outside, despite Nurse Graves telling her to stay put in the city, when Willow walked in to grab something to eat.

"Well well well, if it isn't the tourist. Nice to see you on your feet again, smoothskin." The sentry took a seat across from her at the table, digging into her food almost ravenously. She nodded her reply, accepting a small plate from Greta and setting it on the table beside her. "Barrows tells me that I have you to thank for that. He claimed that you dragged my half dead rear end into his clinic and told him a Deathclaw almost had me for a snack. I remember the Deathclaw, and hearing you run over, but nothing else afterwards until I woke up a few days later feeling like a herd of Brahmin just stampeded over me."

"So he didn't tell you about Charon then."

Lily tilted her head, a look of confusion on her face. "...Sharon?"

"No, tourist. Charon. Huge guy? Stands about up to here, gruff and quiet? Bouncer at the Ninth Circle? Anything ringin a bell?"

She shook her head as Willow gaped at her in astonishment. "You SURE that Deathclaw didn't hit your head somehow, smoothskin? He's pretty hard to miss."

"I've never seen a bouncer in Ahzrukhal's Bar, Willow." She let her cheek drop into her hand as she leaned her elbow on the table, listening to the sentry speak. "Then again, I've only been in there like...once? I think? I had to buy some booze to make Molotovs with, but that was- What?"

The ghoul woman across the table from her had started coughing, having started to laugh in the middle of a swallow. Once the fit calmed down she shook her head, pointing her fork at the wastelander. "Only YOU would walk into that bastards bar and ask for booze for MOLOTOVS. I bet he was fuckin pissed as all hell about that. He actually sold you good booze for explosives?"

"Well at the time, I didn't tell him what I wanted the booze for, just that I needed it for something else. I got them discounted a bit too."

She giggled at the look of bewilderment that Willow gave her. "And how the flying fuck did you manage to do THAT with Ahzrukhal?"

"My secret."

Willow rolled her eyes and just kept eating, waving that part of the conversation away to get back to the previous topic. "Well, in any case, Charon's the bouncer at the bar. I suppose he could have been out running a job for Ahzrukhal at the time you got your booze for your toys. Ahzrukhal always makes him do his fuckin dirty work rather than stain his own hands. If you ask me, he deserves to be on the business end of that damn shotgun Charon carries around. But hey, that's just my prerogative. Take it or leave it."

As Willow tore into her food again, Lily sat back in her chair, her own food forgotten now as the words sank in. From what Willow said, Charon didn't exactly SOUND like just an ordinary bouncer. Going out and doing jobs? What kind of jobs? And did she REALLY wanna know the answer to that? Bouncers stayed in bars to keep things civil and break up fights. Maybe he was Ahzrukhal's roommate? A tenet perhaps? Someone staying there for a small fee? Her questions continued to eat away at her before she could take it no longer.

"Willow?"

The sentry looked up at her with an eyebrow raised.

"Why? I mean. Why does Charon do all of Ahzrukhal's dirty work when he can do it on his own? He's a sleaze bag sure but, that isn't something a regular bouncer does. Bouncers stay in the bar and keep things civil. You said Charon goes on errands for Ahzrukhal."

Willow sat up, wiping her mouth with the napkin she had put in her lap.

"Charon isn't a bouncer, is he?"

The ghoul woman put her napkin on her plate and stood, shouldering her rifle as she pushed her chair up, walking to the door before turning to reply. "It ain't my place to say."

After a good 10 minutes of debating with herself, Lily finally forced herself to her feet, making up her mind to go and pay this 'Charon' a visit. The least she could do was thank him for saving her, Bouncer...errand boy...WHATEVER he was, or not. She walked around towards the Ninth circle, waving to Winthrop as she neared the bar.

"Hey there, smoothskin. On your feet again eh? Good to see. Would be a shame if we lost our first real customer the first week she gets here. Would be a very bad business practice."

Lily rolled her eyes at the mans joke and waved it away with a flick of her hand. "Thanks for your concern Winthrop, but it will take more than a supersledge to the gut to keep me down for any long period of time."

"Supersledge? Willow said you got in a fight with a Deathclaw and nearly lost. She didn't say nothin bout a Mutant."

"One of the Mutants in the Science Museum decided to play 'whack-a-wastelander' with me the second I walked in the door. Didn't even know what hit me till he came storming out of the place. The Deathclaw thing came afterwards, and apparently the bullet I put in his head didn't do the job, according to Willow. Someone named Charon ended up putting it out of it's misery and-"

"Ch-CHARON?!"

Lily blinked, taking in his look of utter surprise as she mentioned the mans name. That was a common reaction around here, so it seemed. She wondered why.

"Y-yes? Willow told me he put a round of buckshot in the damn things face and it went down like a sack of bricks. I was gonna see if I could tell him thank you for it."

Winthrop snorted, walking by her and giving her a pat on the shoulder. "Yeah, good luck getting anything short of 'Talk to Ahzrukhal' out of THAT guy." He shook his head as he continued on his way towards Carols. Lily simply stared after him for a brief moment, her curiosity becoming nearly maddening. What was the big DEAL with this guy? Was he really that much of a hardass? She shook her head and continued on to the Ninth Circle, pushing the door open gently.

_'I guess I'll find out soon enough.'_

Lily hated the feeling of being watched she got when she walked into the saloon before. Now it was quite palpable. She felt as if every fucking eye was on her as she stepped into the room, and she was suddenly very self-concious of how she looked, only now remembering the pair of flannel pants and sleeping tank top she was wearing, not a single weapon to her name. She rubbed her arms to try and ease the chill from them, her feeling of being vulnerable only increasing as Ahzrukhal came to the bar, not hiding his gaze as it raked her from head to toe.

She almost shivered but put on a smile as she finally reached the counter.

"Well hello again there smoothskin. Nice to see you back on your feet."

_'If one more person says that to me, I swear to god I'm gonna cut a bitch.'_

"What can Ol' Uncle Ahzrukhal do for you today?"

"I'm actually looking for someone and was told I could find-"

"Well if it's company you're looking for, sweetheart, I would be more than happy to assist you myself. If that's what you fancy..." The ghoul slid his hand out and lifted hers to chapped lips, making her skin crawl as he placed a kiss on her knuckles, lust burning bright in his gaze.

Good god this...man...made her cringe. How much of a sleaze bag WAS he? She didn't even blush at his forwardness, sliding his hand out of hers and forcing her smile for him, trying not to seem disgusted as she continued uninterrupted. "Not THAT kind of company. I just wanna talk to him. His name was...Charon...I think? At least that's what Willow said it was."

The ghouls gaze instantly hardened on her, eyes flickering to look behind her briefly before returning to her face. He kept his tone level as he leaned back, a curious glare on his face. "And what, if I may ask, do you want with Charon?"

"I already said. I just wanted to talk to him about something. That's all, really." Lily forced her most disarming smile onto her face, cocking her head to the side a little bit as he narrowed his eyes at her. "That's...not a problem...right? Is he busy? I can come back later when he has time." Anxiety was starting to flair up inside of her. What was this guys problem? _'Are they fucking LOVERS or something? Why is he getting so damn over protective of this guy?'_

"Charon is only busy when I want him to be." Ahzrukhal almost growled the words out, wiping the counter in front of him with stiff motions. He went quiet after that, looking at her hard, as if trying to figure out her intentions. Lily just kept right on smiling at him, trying to be as friendly and trusting as possible. Finally, after a final look behind her he snorted softly. "Alright fine. You can talk to him. Just tell him I said it was okay or he wont give you the time of day. And make it quick." He jerked his head towards the room behind her. She beamed up at him happily. "I will! Thank you, Ahzrukhal!"

As she turned around, she forced the shocked gasp that rose in her throat right back down when her eyes locked with a pair of fierce blue ones, so clear it was hard to believe they belonged to a ghoul of all people. So that is where the feeling of being watched had been coming from. Not from the patrons around her, but from the titan standing against the wall in the corner of the bar. He was a seven foot tall stone statue in the shadows of the bar, not moving an inch, even when she turned to look for him. She had barely seen him in that small corner, but she kind of wished she DIDN'T see him. In fact she kind of wished that she hadn't come looking for him in the first place, what with the glare he was giving her scorching through her body. But those eyes were full of life as they stared through her, a gaze that held something she couldn't quite put her finger on.

Gathering her courage and steeling her nerve, she took the few cautious steps that were required of her before coming to a stop right in front of the massive Ghoul, who towered over her a good two feet or so. And not one time had his gaze left hers as she moved across the room to him. Up close she didn't have to fight the surrounding darkness to see closer features. Broad shoulders, head of strikingly red hair, and blazing blue eyes that seemed to burn her from head to toe as he stared her down, yet his face remained neutral as she stepped up to him. It was strange that her entire body felt like it was burning from his stare, even though his eyes never left hers, not one time. He may have blinked once or twice but not one time did he take the chance to look her over. She assumed he had done that the second she had walked in, but nothing in his eyes said anything about desire or hunger that Azhzrukhals had. His held something she couldn't identify, something she had never seen before in a person. And it bugged the HELL out of her that she couldn't pin it down.

"Um.."

"Talk to Ahzrukhal." His deep voice surprised her as it growled out of his chest, but he didn't move to react. His body remained coiled in place, a crouching tiger waiting patiently for his prey to fuck up once. Just once. And that would be ALL it would take. She felt her cheeks flush slightly from being startled by something so simple as a voice and scolded herself inwardly as she tried again.

"You're Charon, right?"

"Talk. To. Ahzrukhal."

"I. Did." His eyebrow raised as she mimicked his way of speaking, and she almost felt childish talking that way. Almost. "He said that I could talk to you."

Lily watched his eyes flicker from her face to the bar owners over her shoulder. He must have gotten the response he was looking for because when they returned to hers, they held a little bit of surprise. _'I guess nobody really talks to him..'_

She realized he expected her to continue and forced her brain to get back on track. Why did she suddenly feel so embarrassed? "Um...S-so...Willow told me...that you..were the one who carried me, uhm...to the Chop Shop...earlier last week." She folded her hands behind her back, casting her gaze to her bare feet as she spoke, her voice just a tiny bit quiet, almost self conscious. When she peeked up at him for his response, he simply nodded, but his eyes told her that he was quite amused with her method of speaking.

"W-well...I um...I wanted to...say thank you..for doing that for me."

THAT made his expression change, his eyebrows raising a bit, his blue eyes staring at her in disbelief. _'Has nobody ever THANKED him for something? Wow, are they really that rude in this place?' _She shook herself mentally and forced herself to continue. "Y-you didn't...HAVE to do that for me...but I'm um..I'm really grateful for you doing it. You...saved my life...so...thank you for that." The smile that creeped onto her face couldn't be held back as she raised her head to look up at the man against the wall, happy to have gotten the words out at last. The look of shock remained on his face for only a brief moment more before it slowly changed back to its neutral state of being, giving her another nod.

"Um...that's all I wanted to say. I'll be going now, I'm getting tired again. See you later!"

She turned on her heel and walked to the door to the Ninth circle, her face feeling hot as she pulled the door open and stepped outside. Good god why the hell had that been so hard to do?

Charon tracked her with his eyes as she walked out of the bar with wobbly steps. He felt Ahzrukhal's stare boaring into him but he ignored it, his own gaze resuming its usual routine of doing absolutely fuck all. But his mind was working rapidly to digest the information it had just acquired.

She had thanked him.

A woman that didn't even know who he was, probably didn't even know his name before Willow had told it to her, had thanked him.

She hadn't even noticed he was there when she had stepped into the bar that first day, but she had gone out of her way to seek him out and THANK him.

The thought actually had a smile threatening to pull itself onto his face, but he shoved the small bit of joy he received away from him, the emotion all but vile to him now. So what if she had thanked him. She was probably just being polite like she had been taught in that damn Vault of hers.

He wouldn't allow himself to feel hopeful about something that probably would never happen.


End file.
